The macrodynamics of open systems and the variational principle of the local potential—II. applications

The second part of the paper presents the application of macrodynamic methods for deduction and investigation of chemical kinetic equations. In particular, nonisothermal chemical kinetic equations are considered, detailed balanced and balanced systems are studied and the method of quasistationary concentrations is discussed. For open isothermal systems a theorem on existence of a positive stationary state is proved.     

二十世纪二三十年代苏联“无产阶级生物学“

文章回顾了二十世纪二三十年代苏联在生物学领域创建“无产阶级生物学”的事件，包括“无产阶级生物学”产生的历史背景、莫斯科和列宁格勒在发展“无产阶级生物学”上的差异，以及开展“文化革命”来建立“无产阶级生物学”的努力。作者认为，尽管“无产阶级生物学”在理论上和实践上都没有获得成功，但它对日后苏联生物学的发展，特别是李森科主义的兴起，产生过重要影响。     

Closed-form solution of the equations of caustics about cracks in fracture mechanics

The shape of a caustic and its initial curve about a crack in fracture mechanics for plane elastic media is defined by a pair of equations, the first of which does not in general possess a closed-form solution, being of fifth or higher degree and, frequently, transcendental. A closed-form solution of this equation is obtained on this basis and after an appropriate modification of the method of Burniston and Siewert. An application to the problem of a straight crack under tensile loading at infinity is made and the diameters of the caustic and its initial curve are evaluated analytically and numerically with excellent accuracy after the solution of an equation of fifth degree in closed-form.     

The relationship between race and library anxiety among graduate students: A replication study

Despite the large volume of literature on racial differences in academic performance between African Americans and Caucasian Americans at various educational levels, there has been a dearth of research examining whether the academic library experience is an important variable that helps explain the racial differences observed in educational outcomes. To date, only one empirical study has examined the racial differences in library anxiety among college students. Specifically, Jiao et al. [Jiao, Q. G., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Bostick, S. L. (2004). Racial differences in library anxiety among graduate students. Library Review, 53(4), 228–235] found that African-American graduate students reported statistically significantly lower levels of library anxiety associated with three library anxiety dimensions than did their Caucasian-American counterparts. However, because the two racial groups selected for the study differed in the types of institution they attended, the researchers were unable to conclude whether the differences found in the library anxiety levels were the result of race or the groups’ educational experience/aptitude. Therefore, the present study replicated Jiao et al.’s earlier research while addressing this concern. Findings revealed that the African-American graduate students (n = 25) reported consistently lower levels across all five dimensions of library anxiety than did the Caucasian-American graduate students (n = 155). These two studies suggest that racial differences in library anxiety exist in the college student population.     

Some determinants of cost distributions in the process of technological innovation

Industrial research and development (R&D) is a set of activities within the broader set of decisions and activities: the process of technological innovation (TI). It is technology transfer (commercialization of the innovation) that leads to technology diffusion that permits production and employment expansion and hence economic growth — an important goal of industrial policy. Firms' managements and government policy- makers should recognize the close relationships among the phases of TI and direct their policy, planning, budgeting and control decisions to the complete process. Many policies currently focus their attention to only one or a few points (such as R&D).In this study we conducted a detailed cost analysis of a limited number of innovation projects and studied the distributions of TI cost over the process phases. We find that almost half of TI costs are devoted to R&D, which implies that government support of this phase is important. Different cost patterns emerge when we classify innovations by industrial sectors, firms' sizes and project complexity. Complex innovations require larger and more variable (risky) R&D budgets. Smaller firms need more assistance in technology transfer. These are only a few important policy implications. This study emphasizes the importance of post-R&D phases and concludes that differential industrial policy may be required for technological innovations.     

Relationship of plasma homocysteine with lipid profile parameters in ischemic heart disease

The present study was undertaken to explore the relationship of plasma homocysteine with other biochemical parameters in ischemic heart disease. Plasma levels of total homocysteine was measured by HPLC—fluorescence detection with internal standard in 60 ischemic heart disease patients and were compared with 30 age matched normal healthy controls. The significant increase of plasma homocysteine was observed in both myocardial infarction and chronic stable ischemic heart disease patients when compared with the controls. The hyperhomocysteinemia appears be to due to increased body demand of vitamins such as folic acid, vitamin B₁₂, B₆, B₂ either alone or in combination to regulate normal homocysteine metabolism.     

Symmetric and innerwise matrices for the root-clustering and root-distribution of a polynomial

The general problem of root-clustering and root-distribution of a polynomial in a certain region Γ in the complex plane has been investigated in this paper. The region Γ is general and includes all the previously investigated regions. For the root-clustering problem, it is shown that by using a certain transformation, the necessary and sufficient condition can be represented either in terms of positive definite (p.d.) or positive innerwise (p.i.) matrices. The entries in these matrices are rational functions of the coefficients of the polynomial. The connection between p.d. and p.i. matrices is established in terms of matrix multiplication.     

Validity Evidence of an Electronic Portfolio for Preservice Teachers

This study applied Messick's unified, multifaceted concept of construct validity to an electronic portfolio system used in a teacher education program. The subjects included 128 preservice teachers who recently completed their final portfolio reviews and student teaching experiences. Four of Messick's six facets of validity were investigated for the portfolio in this study, along with a discussion of the remaining facets examined in two previous studies. The evidence provided support for the substantive and generalizability aspects of validity, and limited support for the content, structural, external, and consequential aspects of validity. It was suggested that the electronic portfolio may be used as one requirement for certification purposes, but may not be valid for the purpose of assessing teacher competencies .